Off Topic — HabitableZone

Off Topic » in reply to A wry observation...

Conceptualization of Religion
Lindy — (archived)

You are perfectly right.

I often think that Holy Books have been "reverse-engineered."
Trying to put down in writing unusual events and figure them out from there. Possibly even throwing in a sense of morality due to the fear these external events have imposed on the individual and their collective psyches.
Between the recorded pestilence and famine are the truly phenomenal events, often experienced by leaders of the tribes or blessed/psychic/hallucinating "prophets". At times the whole tribe was involved, or whole countries, sometimes even armies.

I find this fascinating. And I wonder WHAT produces the phenomena. Is it external? Is an individual the lightening rod for illumination?
I would agree with you that it would all make more sense if it could happen to you as an individual "for our disbelief, we have every right to demand a personal visit and a detailed explanation with corroborating evidence. "

Most agnostics I know have never been touched by this phenomena personally, and therefore deny it's possibility. For those of us who have been touched by it (and there are at least three and possibly more, regulars here), it changes one's outlook on life for we feel we HAVE BEEN touched by some external force that cannot be captured or verified in a laboratory. It sets us on a path of moral certitude that is often dramatic as much as it is pragmatic to our lives and those we touch.

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